Now Let’s Rescue America: Nine Key Steps For The Left

The waters are receding. But the battle to save New Orleans – and the country – has just begun.

The coming struggle will be difficult – stretching over a decade
or more. But if we dedicate ourselves, the outcome is certain.

The puffed-up potentate who fiddled while New Orleans drowned
will continue losing his grip on power – and so will his party.
And the people of New Orleans will live in a resurrected city –
their hometown rebuilt by a nation more deeply committed to justice and
equality.

That result is possible – but only if progressives
create a force strong enough to achieve it. The post-Katrina
moment is a time to come together and win real change.

State of Shock: Frozen ind Place in a Crisis

But first, it must be said: we progressives have NOT gotten off to
the best possible start. I am deeply disappointed in myself, for
not doing more sooner.

Feelings of shock and helplessness
paralyzed me for days. My African-American ancestors, who led
slave revolts and toppled Jim Crow, would have been dismayed by
my inaction.

Of course, my fore-bearers would have known better
than to expect the U.S. government to prioritize saving Black
people from serious danger, in the first place. Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr., would have gone down there immediately –
defying FEMA and leading a peaceful march to bring in food,
medicine and water. And Malcolm X or the Black Panthers probably
would have commandeered vehicles, crashed the roadblocks, braved
gunfire – saving our people, by any means necessary.

Not me. I
couldn't even figure out how to get that online donation thing-ie
to work. I sat here for days, surfing websites, forwarding
e-mails, blogging … and wiping away tears.

The Left Lacked the Capacity or Guts to Do More

I wish we had flooded Capitol Hill with a coordinated wave of
phone calls and emails. I wish we had conducted protests and
"sit-ins" at every federal building in the country. After
Wednesday, we should have delivered the aid ourselves –
regardless of the cost. We had a duty to move heaven and earth to
support the Southerners – including the local activists – who did
risk their necks to save lives.

But there was a major
leadership failure last week. And not just in the White House. It
extended deep into our own ranks. The fact that we did not have
the organizational capacity – or the guts – to do more than we
did, is as exasperating to me as any of Bush's crimes or omissions.

Now progressives must recover our balance and take the initiative.
We will have to work hard, even through our tears. Break
through long-standing weaknesses on the Left will be tough. But
now is the time to do it.

Now Is the Time to Speak Truth and Act Boldly

If we articulate a bold action program, we can win support on a
scale that we have not known for decades. This tragedy has
touched something deep in the American people. And after a long
romance with those river-boat gamblers on the Right, they are
finally ready to hear something sensible from our side.

The press hasn't quite awakened to this reality. The pollsters are
just beginning to catch on. But far from the deaths and the
denials, on opposite coasts as well as in the heartland, a small
voice is growing steadily stronger.

This voice does not shout. It is far too angry and ashamed for that. It is not loud – just determined.

You have heard it yourself. The media flooded your senses with
images of destruction, death and delay. And a voice inside you
said: "No – not in my country."

“Not in My Country" Resounds from Coast to Coast

Men and women clinging to rooftops, dying in flooded attics,
collapsing in diabetic shock, dying of dehydration – five days
after the skies had completely cleared. No rescue, no assistance,
not even an airlifted water bottle.

"Not in my country."

Thousands of human beings locked into a sweltering, filthy sports
arena – with 100-degree temperatures, corpses and nothing to eat
– on live television. Dead grandmothers piled into corners like
garbage. Infants dying, in their mothers' arms, of thirst.

"Not in my country."

A major American city wiped off the face of the Earth – along
with possibly THREE times as many Americans as perished on 9-11.
Meanwhile, the U.S. president keeps playing golf and attending
fund-raisers.

"Not in my country."

Now, this may seem
like a small thing: millions of Americans, of every color and
class, saying simultaneously – and in their deepest hearts – "no."

But I believe that this voice – with our encouragement – can grow
in confidence and in volume. I believe that it can remind us of
this country's better and wiser traditions. And I believe that
this voice can, at long last, call this nation back to its senses.

This voice is your voice. And mine. It is the voice of millions
and millions of American citizens and residents, right now. With
tireless work and devotion, all those voices can swell into a
chorus – too powerful and too resonant to be denied.

Time to Shatter the Old Consensus and Build a New One

And as we move forward, let us not be afraid to teach America a
new song. This is the rarest of circumstances: a genuine teaching
moment. It is a moment of deeper longing and listening. We owe it
to the dead not to waste it.

The desire to pull something
good out of this disaster is neither cynical nor opportunistic.
National crises always unleash energy for change - in one
direction or another. The GOP used our last national disaster –
9-11 – to torpedo the country's finances, curtail our freedoms
and soak Iraq in blood.

By seizing the moment, we can do
something positive, instead. We can shatter the present consensus
that says “cut social spending to pay for a massive warfare
state.” We can re-balance federal spending priorities away from
the Pentagon - and toward first-responders, infrastructure and
communities. And we can banish forever the “sink or swim”
politics that have seduced Republicans and Democrats for far too
long.

Let nothing stop us from completing these tasks. The
Katrina aftermath shows that over-funding the military and
cutting services actually makes us LESS safe, not more safe.

And it demonstrates that issues of racism, poverty, climate
destabilization, petro-chemical poisons and the vulnerabilities of
an oil-based economy are not just petty obsessions of the
politically-correct crowd. They are life-and-death issues for
real people.

Fill the Leadership Vacuum: Nine Key Steps

Ordinary Americans were stunned by a huge leadership gap and
credibility gap in the Bush White House. By stepping forward
immediately, we can fill those gaps ourselves.

The following nine steps are critical.

1. Let's tell America that we want to fully fund FEMA and disaster

relief

– by rolling back the Bush tax cuts to at least Clinton-era
levels. The rich must help secure the country against the next
disaster. Reckless revenue cuts that leave us more vulnerable must
now be repealed.

2. Let's declare that the Katrina's flood-waters washed the GOP's

proposal to repeal the "estate tax" off the table.

There will be no tax breaks for the mega-rich while the nation is
recovering from this historic blow - and preparing itself for the
next one. Any revenue cuts would both impair the rebuilding
effort and risk lives down the road. Let's declare the repeal of
the so-called "death tax" to be: D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival).

3. Let's publicly demand that George W. Bush either apologize to the

people of the Gulf Coast for failing them, or else resign.

It is time to stop fearing Bush Almighty, assuming that he and
Karl Rove can keep trashing the country and never pay a price.
The man just impaled himself on his own arrogance and contempt
for life. Even conservative reporters were outraged by his team's
indifference and dishonesty. Under Bush, America abandoned our
poor, sick and disabled in a crisis - and the whole world saw it
on live TV. True patriots were appalled. And his smirking and
shirking just aren't cute anymore. A call for his resignation
might draw some right-wing support.

4. Let us resolve not to lose a single moment

–
pacing back and forth, wringing our hands and trying not to
appear too "partisan" or "blaming." Of course, the Republicans
are going to howl that we are "finger-pointing" or "exploiting
the tragedy." What else can they say for themselves at this
point? That Bush did a good job? Let them call us names. And let
us stay focused on ensuring that something changes in the wake of
this catastrophe.

5. Let's insist that New Orleans be rebuilt – under the direction of

those who have lived there for generations,

not at the behest of big developers or carpet-bagging profiteers
like Halliburton. To that end, let's passionately support
grassroots organizations in the region like the Community Labor
Union, Mississippi Workers Center, Southern Empowerment Project
and Project South. And let's help any evacuees who relocate to
our areas get politically organized, so they can stay involved in
the process.

site, Alan AtKisson makes a beautiful, well-reasoned and
comprehensive case for rebuilding New Orleans as a model "green
city.") All of our environmental sustainability, environmental
justice and eco-business networks can unite to make this happen.

7. Let's launch a national network of individuals to help ensure
that all levels of government properly fund reconstruction and
evacuee support. (We are gathering signatures for such an effort at ellabakercenter.org

.)
Let's push our city councils to pass "Sister City" ordinances in
solidarity with New Orleans and other hurricane-ravaged towns.
Evacuee support should be a yearly budget item in every major
city (through the entire decade of rebuilding, if need be). Every
mayor needs to appoint a paid ombudsman to support local evacuees
and to coordinate information flow with Louisiana and Mississippi
officials.

8. Let's call for National Guard troops to be returned from Iraq,
especially those from Louisiana and Mississippi. The Katrina
aftermath shows how much we need our disaster relief forces to be
back here, in the United States. Let's tie, with a thousand
strings, progressives who are working in the recovery effort to
the anti-war movement. (The United for Peace & Justice
statement, “The Gulf Wars,” makes a convincing case for common
ground. You can find it at unitedforpeace.org

.)

9. And let us wage our own war ... against forgetting.

We must not let the media or the Right "orchestrate amnesia" by
pushing this tragedy to the back pages. We deserve levels of
ongoing media attention that match and exceed 9-11. Every writer,
film-maker and artist must share this shameful story: a storm
came, and this nation left its poor, Black and disabled people
behind to die. We must sear that fact into the memory of this
nation. This catastrophe - and its lessons - must become part of
the national legend. Only then, can we be assured that the
mindset that permitted it will never again lead this country.

Taking these steps - and dozens more like them - are the best ways
for us to honor the dead. Through bold action, we just may find
the gift in this hideous, grievous wound.

We could not
save those who died needlessly on Mississippi rooftops and in
Louisiana attics. But we still have time to rescue America.

And
as our voice of conscience grows louder, we will expand our
hearts even more. In the days to come, let us say about this kind
of injustice: "Not in my country. Not in this world. … And never
again."